Josh started in the drone community in 2012 with a drone news Twitter account. Over the years Josh has gained mass exposure from his aerial photography work and spends his days writing drone content for DroneDJ as well as pursuing his business. You can view Josh’s photography work here.
Josh can be contacted by email at josh@dronedj.com or @JoshSpires_.
Altitude Angel and Inmarsat have announced a partnership that will allow for unmanned traffic management (UTM) systems, specifically for drones, to pop up when required using Inmarsat’s network of satellites. This approach removes the need for infrastructure to be built on the ground and allows for faster setup times.
ANRA Technologies and partners, Swiggy, the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, and BetterDrones have been approved to begin beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone deliveries in India after the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) granted exemptions to the company.
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) is hosting a webinar on the use of 3D multi-sensor visualization and the role it plays in making drones safer on June 17 at 3 p.m. EDT. Paige Cutland from Kongsberg Geospatial will host the event and will focus on beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations.
Swoop Aero has increased its drone fleet size by 300% in Malawi as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in the number of drones will allow for 150 flights per day to be conducted if required. The drones will be used to distribute COVID-19 medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE).
The West Midlands Police‘s Walsall Taskforce has taken down a weed operation running out of an unused pub in Willenhall town center last week, seeing more than $600,000 worth of weed during the raid. The task force used a drone with a thermal camera to see hotspots within the building.
Quaternium Technologies has released a video showing off a potential use for its long-endurance drone by delivering a spare tire in a fraction of the time standard roadside assistance is able to get to you. The drone was able to deliver the spare tire within minutes of the text being sent.
A drone with a thermal camera was used by the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) to direct fire crews to the hottest areas of a burning ship to help maintain its structural integrity. The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department posted the images on its Twitter account.
Google’s Wing Aviation will soon be delivering library books to kids in Virginia using its delivery drones, thanks to middle-school librarian Kelly Passek. Ms. Passek was stunned at the speed her goods were delivered by Wing’s drones, resulting in her asking if books could be delivered.
QinetiQ Australia has been given the contract to design and build an unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flight test range in Queensland, Australia on behalf of the Queensland Government. The flight test range will be located at the Cloncurry Aerodrome in North West Queensland.
Researchers from MIT, Texas A&M University, and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid have managed to create a relatively low-cost and effective method for drones to detect and avoid obstacles in flight using stereo cameras to build a depth map of the world around it in real-time.
Researchers recently used a drone to collect data in a pilot study, specifically height and width, on a school of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Maine. The drone was used to take photos of the school of tuna and individual tuna to test whether usable data could be collected.
Researchers from Stanford University are working on new ways drones can transport goods in urban areas, using current transport networks such as buses. This possibility for drone deliveries could see them happening even faster while addressing one of the biggest issues delivery drones are facing.
Quantum-Systems took to the sky in Munich with its medical delivery drone to test transporting vials of blood. The test drone was able to complete the delivery in just under seven minutes.
On National Donut Day, LaMar’s Donuts held its first-ever Essential Service Awards, with the winners receiving free donuts delivered by drone as a thank you. The winners were nominated by fellow citizens in the five states LaMar’s Donuts operates out of.
A drone was used to help researchers from the Raine Island Recovery Project track and count the number of turtles migrating through the Great Barrier Reef off the Northeast coast of Australia. Previously the researchers would count the turtles from a boat by painting a white stripe on their shell.
Wingtra‘s drone trade-in program allows you to hand in your old used surveying drone to get up to $5,000 off a new WingtraOne surveying vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone. Both Wingtra and third-party drones can be traded in.
Remote islands off the coast of South Korea will soon see drone deliveries, thanks to Pablo Air. Pablo Air hopes to use drones to provide the islands with high-efficiency deliveries that can replace the expensive ships currently used to carry passengers and cargo.
The DJI RoboMaster EP‘s core has made its way onto the FCC’s database with an image of its regulatory label and label location being shared in the filing. This could suggest the “SS3-RMEPCORE” RoboMaster EP could be released in the US very soon.
The DJI Fly app has once again received a new update taking it to version 1.1.4, with improvements to the user interface, improvements to the DJI Mavic Air 2‘s features, and fixing a few bugs causing the app to unexpectedly crash from time to time.
DJI has announced its End of Financial Year (EOFY) sale for Australia and its Winter Surprise sale for New Zealand discounting the Mavic 2 series, Mavic Mini, Ronin-S, and Ronin-SC along with the Osmo Pocket, Osmo Mobile 3, and the Osmo Action. If you are looking for a DJI sale in the US, take a look at the Father’s Day sale going live on June 12th.